Fish stringer



T. HANSON FISH STRINGER July 29, 1947'.

Filed April 17, 1946 FICE :1

THEoooRE HA /vso/v Patented July 29, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE2;4=24,658 FISHSTRINGER TheodoreHanson, Minneapolis, Minn.

ApplicationAprlU, 1946, Serial No. 662,850

61 Claims. l

This invention relates to improvements in Stringers for keepingfishafter they are caught and-until they are cleaned.

Several types ofr Stringersv for' this purpose are widely-known andvusedbut all, tomyknowledge, have Some disadvantages which it isthelpurposeof' my invention to overcome. Possibly the most commonStringer comprises merely a suitable length of cordor light rope havingan eyeat one end and a needle aihxed to tsother-end. In use, the needleis thrustzthrough the lipsnof the sh rst caught and then through the eyeforming a loop about the flshs lips after which the fish iS dropped intothe water and the needle end of the rope tied to the boatY or othersupport; Then aS- the otherflsh are caught they varest-rung inSuccessionl but each time a shris caughtthe Stringer must be unfastened,making the-task disagreeble. Then too, the entire weight ofthe String'of fish is placedonthefstringer-and-,iffthe fish are large the Stringeris. sometimes: broken when the sh are lifted from the water. Anothercommon type of Stringer has aseriesfof safety pins'or clasps strungalong a chainv orcord and while this Stringer hasthe advantage-thattitneed not be detached from the boat each timeafsh is caught,theconstruction is usually Suchthatzthe sh mayobtain such leverageon-the-pins or clasps that they frequently becomevunf-astened andescape.

Having inQmind the foregoing-facts it'is theprimary object of myinvention to vprovide a Stringer which will Safely keep even very largesh, will keep them in a live condition, and permit Successivesh to bestrung without detaching the accumulated string from the boat. Thus notonly is time saved but the possibility of the string of fish Slippingaway or dropping from the hands is successfully overcome. AnotherObjectis to provide a fish Stringer having two parts or Sections one ofwhich iS secured to the boat at the outset and remains so fastened untilthe fishing is over, and a Second part, or,A Stringer proper; upon whichthe fish are successively strung but which is threaded back and forth orsewed through the other member so that the latter takes the load of theaccumulated String of sh.

These and other more detailed and specific objects will be disclosed inthe course of the following Specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of myimproved stringer, with a Section broken out to permit the showing on alarger scale than would otherwise be possible, and illustrating themanner in which the Stringer is used.

Fig. 21S an enlarged elevational view of a part of the Stringer viewingit along the line 2--2V in Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly and by reference characters to thedrawing, A and B designate-generally the two separable members orpartsfrom which my Stringer iS made.

The part A is formed of a length of chainfand acts as the carrier ormessenger for the part B, which constitutes the actual Stringer uponwhich the fish, indicated at C, are fastenedas they'are caught. Thechainpart is made up of a series of alternately arranged iigure-of-eightconnecting links Ill'and hatV threading or lockingvlinks Il, the ends 0fwhich have apertures I2v through which the loopsl of the link Il! arefastened as clearly-Shown. Thus a flexible length of chain is formed andat one end an anchoring rope I3 is attached by a Swivel Id to an endlink Iileandthe otherl end of this rope-is provided with a snapy I5 bywhich the chain may-be readily attached to a boat or other support (notshown). The opposite or lower end of the chain terminates in one of theflat links II and it will be noted that all of these links Il areprovided with spaced apertures indicated at I6.

The Stringer member B takes the form of a length Il of heavy cord orlight rope having one end knotted', as at I8, andits other endtted witha needle I9 of the type used in Suchdevices. The diameters ofthe ropeI'l` and needle I 9 are Such that they may readily pass through theapertures I6v in the links Il.

In use, at the outset the chain member Av is attached by its rope I3 tothe boat or other Support'- with the Stringer member 1B` threadedthrough the lowermost aperture Il'iin the bottom link Il andthen backthrough the next aperture in that` link, thus drawing `the knot I8 up;against the link and-fastening thevtwo-members A and B together. -As amatter of fact thetwo members will usually loe-carried thusA connectedat their lower ends andl when the rope I3 is fastened to the boat theStringer iS ready for use. Now when a fish is caught the needle I9 isthrust through its lip, or lips, and the fish is allowed to slip downthe Stringer l1 until it comes to rest at the bottom of the Stringer ornear the lower link II. Without unfastening the rope I3 then theStringer needle I9 is threaded or sewed through the apertures I6 in thenext link Il up the chain, bringing it back through on the same sidefrom which it was Started, and the needle end of the Stringer may thenbe dropped back in the boat ready for the next fish, as the iirst fishis dropped into the water. This action is repeated each time a fish iScaught and it will be apparent that, by making the chain of appropriatelength and with any desired number of the links H, any usual number ofsh may be Strung.

As each sh is strung and the Stringer l1 passed back and forth throughthe link ll next in line the bend thrown in the Stringer and frictionallock obtained upon it by the links l I will prevent the Stringer fromworking loose by the threshing of the fish or its weight. Furthermore itwill be evident, and this is important, that the weight of only eachindividual iish is thrown on the loops of the Stringer between the linksl I and that thus there is little likelihood of its breaking. The weightof the accumulated string of sh, on the other hand, is taken by thechain member A which may be heavy enough, as is also the rope I3, tobear the Strain of even a, string of very large size. It will beunderstood in this connection that it is desirable that the caliber ofthe Stringer element itself be kept fairly small, Since it is easier tostring the fish and they are kept alive to better advantage. I obtainthis desired result by providing the strength necessary to support theaggregate weight of Sh in the member B, which acts as a support ormessenger for the Stringer per Se, and frees it of this relatively greatStrain.

To release or detach the fish for cleaning the Stringer l1 is, ofcourse, merely .pulled out of the links Il one at a time and the fishwithdrawn in Succession.

Since the sh are well spaced at their mouths along the Stringer by thedistance between the links II and` are permitted some freedom ofmovement they will stay alive for a considerable time, as iS verydesirable and as will be readily understood.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in theStructure as disclosed, provided Such modifications come within theSpirit and Scope of the appended claims.

Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, whatI claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent iS:

1. A fish Stringer comprising an elongated supporting member having aseries olf openings along its length and adapted to be fastened at oneend to a Support, a flexible Stringer member attached at one end to theend of the Supporting member opposite the end thereof fastened to saidsupport, and Said Stringer member being adapted to be threaded throughthe mouth of each sh as it is caught and then sewed once through a pairof the openings in the supporting member to hold each fish thereto.

2. A fish Stringer of the character described, comprising incombination, an elongated flexible supporting member having means at itsupper end for fastening it to a support, a ilexible Stringer attached atone end to the lower end of the supporting member and having a needle atits other end for Stringing the sh, and said Supporting member havingspaced pairs of apertures through which the needle end of the stringermay be passed to sew the Stringer to said Supporting member formingseparate loops in the Stringer for each fish.

3. A fish Stringer of the character described, comprising incombination, an elongated iiexible supporting member having means at itsupper end for fastening it to a support and including a Series offlexibly connected links, a flexible stringer attached at one endl tothe lower end of the Supporting member, and the links in said Supportingmember having spaced apertures through which the other end of theStringer iS adapted to be passed aS each fish is strung to fasten thefish to said Supporting member.

4. A sh Stringer of the character described, comprising in combination,a supporting member having means at its upper end for fastening it to asupport, a flexible Stringer attached at one end to the lower end of thesupporting member and having a, needle at its other end for Stringingthe fish, and said supporting member having spaced pairs of aperturesthrough which the Stringer member is adapted to be passed forth and backas each fish is strung and a frictional grip thereby obtained on theStringer to hold each fish to the supporting member.

5. In a fish Stringer of the character described, a Supporting chainhaving means at its upper end for fastening it to a boat includinga-series of links having spaced apertures, a flexible stringer attachedat its lower end to the lower end of the chain and having a needle atits other end for Stringing the fish, and Said Stringer being adapted aseach fish iS strung to be threaded back and forth through the aperturesin one of said links to form a loop to hold the fish and to lock Saidloop against pulling out by the Weight and movement of the fish.

6. In a fish Stringer, a length of chain having a rope at its upper endfor attachment to a boat or other Support, Said chain having a Series ofconnected flat links each having a pair of openings, a Stringer offlexible cord attached at its lower end to the lower end of the chainand having a needle at its other end for threading through the lips ofthe fish, and Said Stringer each fish is caught being adapted to bepassed at its said other end back and forth through the apertures in oneof Said links to attach the sh to the chain without detaching its upperend from Said support.

THEODOREl HANSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent.'

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 827,855 Farmer Aug. 7, 19062,407,172 McMillan Sept. 3, 1946

